THE line for a piece of Eric Lindros is even longer than it takes for the Rangers to score a goal these days. Rust assured, two pointless games back from a four-game absence, No. 88 will be a lot better than he was in a 4-0 Garden loss last night to the Kings when he returns Saturday as the enemy to Philadelphia.

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you it was just another game anyway,” Lindros said with a smile, before again giving no story and then sticking to it. Meanwhile, the ongoing lottery to forecast the final game of his career builds to the big drawing, presumably with several bitter ex-teammates lined up to turn his head into a ping-pong ball, triggering the jackpot.

Step right up, ladies and gentlemen, into one of the human race’s largest targets, for reasons beyond his mean stick and 6-foot-5, 240-pound frame. Because there is a time bomb in Lindros’ head, the knees of armchair neurologists have jerked from the ottoman to attack the Rangers and their star with the greatest head-butting frenzy since the heyday of Andrew Golota.

When Lindros had to take some games off during the Rangers’ Western swing, the critics couldn’t help themselves from rationales running from “knew he wouldn’t last” to “how can you build your team around a head case?” to “he’s going to wind up a vegetable!”

Never mind that one of the world’s foremost authorities on athletic head injuries has personally diagnosed Lindros’ latest trauma as mild. They have yet to devise a helmet strong enough to save Dr. Karen Johnston’s reputation from the blunt force of a tragic misdiagnosis of a patient of this profile, so if she says Lindros can play, that should be good enough for anyone, thank you very much for your concern.

Nevertheless, a player who immediately reported symptoms he has come to know too well to trainer Jim Ramsay, remains accused of reckless disregard for his own health. When Lindros’ oft-concussed brother, Brett, was told by doctors to retire, he did. So from where comes the assumption that Lindros won’t drag himself away when his time really comes?

It likely will. While Dr. Johnston reports experts are still scratching the surface of bruised brains, they do know that once injured, they become subject to further and more severe bruising. Indeed, the massive career-ender could still be out there for No. 88, but the risk he currently runs is for more months of headaches, nausea, skewed concentration and depression, not yet any reduced mental capacity for life. If he thinks the chance of revisiting misery he has already overcome is a manageable price to pay for the rewards of playing, that has yet to be an insane call.

You can argue that if a little smack in the face with his own butt end disoriented the Ranger center, he’s asking for bigger problems at the next visit from Scott Stevens’ shoulder. But this time Lindros pulled himself, indicating that the same guy who admitted to not being fully forthcoming with his symptoms during concussion No. 5, then blamed the Flyer trainer and doctors for not shutting him down, has shed denial, learned his body tolerance, and taken responsibility for giving himself the best chance at prolonging his career.

“Some things that are broken just can’t be fixed,” Lindros said. “You [just] do everything in your power not to be back in the same predicament.”

While his risk, is of course, higher, nobody can put him there for sure, or know how ultimately it will shake out for the Rangers.

Washington, a division winner a year ago, is not in playoff position after trading for Jaromir Jagr, who would have cost Glen Sather more. Conjecture that Jason Allison, Teemu Selanne, Tony Amonte, Doug Weight and Bill Guerin, some of whom were moved subsequent to Lindros, some of whom likely still will be, would have been safer moves, presumes that something close to Kim Johnsson, Pavel Brendl and Jan Hlavac was going to bring healthy star players.

That’s a reach. Lindros was the least expensive way to quickly prop up a rundown organization. If he lasts, then the Rangers stole one of the best players in the game. If he doesn’t, the Garden will always have money to eventually buy and plug in another star around better support players a second-year GM needs more time to develop.